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Taiwan issues travel advisory after China vows to execute independence supporters

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Taiwan issues travel advisory after China vows to execute independence supporters

The Taiwanese government warned its citizens not to travel to mainland China on Thursday after Beijing threatened to execute residents who support the island’s independence.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh issued the warning during a routine press conference. The Chinese government announced a new policy targeting “separatists” last week, and said it would pursue the death penalty for “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence.

“I want to stress: Democracy is not a crime; it’s autocracy that is the real evil. China has absolutely no right to sanction Taiwan’s people just because of the positions they hold. What’s more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people’s rights across borders,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday.

“I also want to call on China to face up to the existence of the Republic of China and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected, legitimate government,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name. “If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will only become more and more estranged.”

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The Taiwanese government warned its citizens not to travel to mainland China on Thursday after Beijing threatened to execute residents who support the island’s independence. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

China has long considered Taiwan to be its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take the island by force in recent years.

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China’s Taiwan Affairs Office clarified on Wednesday that the threat of execution applies only to a small number of Taiwanese independence “diehards’ evil words and actions.”

Xi Jinping

China has long considered Taiwan to be its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take the island by force in recent years. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP)

The move is the latest escalation of tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Recent months have also seen China conduct extensive military drills surrounding the island. China has used the drills as intimidation, typically following events connecting the U.S. and Taiwan.

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China first conducted live-fire drills in 2022 after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif., traveled to Taiwan. It was the first time a U.S. speaker visited the island in over 25 years. 

Chinese soldier looking through binoculars with a military ship in the background

Recent months have also seen China conduct extensive military drills surrounding the island, typically following events connecting the U.S. and Taiwan. (Lin Jian/Xinhua via AP)

Beijing’s execution threat comes just days after the U.S. approved the sale of $360 million in drones, missiles and other equipment to Taiwan.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Video: Young People Demand Change Ahead of Britain’s Election

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Video: Young People Demand Change Ahead of Britain’s Election

Many young people feel disillusioned by politics in the United Kingdom, as the country readies for a pivotal general election after 14 years of Conservative governments. Megan Specia, an international correspondent for The New York Times based in London, spoke with young voters in the northern English cities of Liverpool and Manchester to hear their perspectives on the election.

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1 confirmed dead after severe rain causes roof collapse at India's New Delhi airport

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1 confirmed dead after severe rain causes roof collapse at India's New Delhi airport
  • One person was killed after a portion of the canopy at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport’s departure terminal collapsed on Friday.
  • The collapse occurred due to monsoon rains that lashed the Indian capital, officials say.
  • Six others were injured during the collapse.

A portion of a canopy at a departure terminal at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in India collapsed Friday as monsoon rains lashed the Indian capital, killing one person and injuring six others, officials said.

All flight departures from Terminal 1 were temporarily suspended as rescuers cleared the debris to rescue anyone trapped there, the airport authority said.

Terminal 1 is used for domestic operations at New Delhi’s main airport.

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The fire services control room said the injured were taken to a hospital.

A crew inspects the damage to a part of a departure terminal canopy at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport that collapsed in heavy pre-monsoon rains in New Delhi, India, on June 28, 2024. (AP Photo)

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“Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy of the old departure forecourt” collapsed at around 5 a.m., an airport authority statement said.

In addition to the roof, some support beams also collapsed, damaging cars in the pickup and drop-off area at the terminal, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

One of the six injured people was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen, PTI said.

Anees Khan, a taxi driver, said he was sleeping in his car. “Around 5:30 in the morning there was a very loud lightning sound. When I got out, I saw that the roof had collapsed and there were around eight to 10 cars under it.”

Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu visited the airport and said boarding operations at the damaged terminal were being shifted to two other terminals.

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He told reporters that a thorough inspection of the damaged structure was being carried out.

An IndiGo airline official said passengers inside the terminal had already boarded their flights and those booked on flights later in the day would be offered alternatives.

Friday’s rain was the first big shower of the monsoon season in New Delhi, the India Meteorological Department said. It flooded New Delhi streets, causing traffic snarls. The monsoon season lasts until the end of September.

According to the department, as much as 9 inches of rain fell in New Delhi in the past 24 hours, nearly three times the amount the city usually receives in the entire month of June. The intense rain follows a punishing heatwave that claimed at least 100 lives across India, including in New Delhi.

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India is among the most vulnerable regions in the world to the effects of climate change. A report by the Reserve Bank of India earlier this year found it could cost more than $1 trillion by 2030 for the country to adapt to the changes. Climate experts say monsoon rains have become more erratic, resulting in extreme rainfall events that cause landslides and flooding.

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Norway's LQBTQ community party at the Pride parade in Oslo

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Norway's LQBTQ community party at the Pride parade in Oslo

According to the Brussels-based NGO ILGA-Europe, Norway this year ranks the 8th best state in Europe for the LGBTQ community.

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Revellers took to the streets of central Oslo this weekend to celebrate the city’s annual pride parade as June’s Pride Month draws to a close.

The two-hour march ended on Saturday at the so-called Pride Park, in the central Sofienbergparken.

Oslo Pride is Norway’s largest celebration of love and diversity and focusses on equal rights and human dignity.

It’s created by around 80 year-round volunteers with around 300 extra getting involved during the nine-day festival.

According to the Brussels-based NGO ILGA-Europe, Norway this year ranks the 8th best state in Europe for the LGBTQ community. The index takes into account the legal, political and social environment for LGBTQ people in each country in Europe.

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However during 2022’s festival, a homophobic gunman opened fire in Oslo’s nightlife district, killing two people and wounding 20 others.

Heavy police presence at Pride parade in Greece

Meanwhile, in Greece, around 15,000 people attended the annual EuroPride parade on Saturday, police said, in support of the LGBTQ+ community in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki but police had to come out in large numbers to keep the parade safe.

“This participation from across Europe sends a message,” parade participant Michalis Filippidis told reporters. “It is very, very good. We are all united like a fist and, despite many things happening, we are all here to fight for our rights.”

There was a heavy police presence to prevent demonstrations against the parade. In the end, police said, 15 people were detained for shouting obscenities at parade participants and, in one case, trying to throw eggs at them.

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